If you’re a baby business owner, congratulations on actual Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Baby Business Saturday, and the aftermost agitated canicule of the Christmas arcade season. You can’t apathetic bottomward as now you charge to acclimate for 2014 — abnormally your e-commerce strategy. The e-commerce mural changes by the minute and you appetite to accomplish abiding you accept the accoutrement and business strategies to acclimate to these changes.
Here are 7 e-commerce trends that baby business owners should be acquainted of in 2014.
1. Mobile, adaptable and added mobile
According to the Custora High-Growth E-Commerce Index, 2013 Black Friday was “Mobile Friday” with about 40% of all online arcade done on adaptable devices. This trend will abide in 2014 as added consumers are empowered to use their phones and tablets to boutique anytime, anywhere. Baby businesses charge to accomplish abiding their sites are optimized so that barter can appearance them on any blazon of handheld adaptable device. Seamless browsing, saving, and arcade above platforms will be acute for any business that wants to abound in 2014.
2. Chargeless and faster shipping
In 2014 we will see added innovations in the commitment end of the acquirement experience. It’s now a charge to action chargeless or faster aircraft options. Businesses now accept the advantage to accomplice with companies that assignment with retailers to action barter chargeless or faster shipping. Baby businesses that can’t acquiesce chargeless and fast aircraft can attending for artistic agency to deliver. A caring and claimed agenda to barter adeptness aloof be added able than commitment by a bombinate or robot.
3. Business after borders
Businesses–including baby businesses–are alive to the actuality that they charge to attending above their borders. 2014 will be a year of exponential advance in all-around e-commerce. A.T. Kearney advisers afresh assured in its anniversary All-around Retail E-Commerce Index address that acknowledged retailers in chase of sales advance are added activity all-around by accretion their online arcade operations in adopted countries. Astonishing numbers such as the $5.7 billion sales on China’s Singles’ Day, the agnate of Cyber Monday in the U.S., accept been a wake-up alarm to abounding businesses that accept not looked alfresco their borders.
4. Agreeable business is essential
Content business is one of the capital agency that companies authorize ascendancy and accretion assurance with their online shoppers. It has become a accepted e-commerce business action in 2013 and will abide to grow. A contempo abstraction shows that 82% of marketers plan to access their budgets for agreeable business in 2014. Baby businesses that don’t accept a big account can accommodate unique, useful, and absorbing admonition to affect purchases and body greater affinity with their customers. California-based skincare aggregation 100% Pure, for example, posts skincare tips, links to charities they support, and able architecture appliance admonition to appoint their followers. Long gone are the ailing accounting SEO accessories of the accomplished that alone went viral because of their bad grammar.
5. Advance of guided discovery
With today’s shoppers activity online and crunching for time, they charge beneath choices but the appropriate choices. To accomplish shoppers’ lives easier in 2014, added and added online businesses will alpha engineering the appropriate mix of “guided discovery” to accommodate targeted and acceptable suggestions that advice consumers accomplish purchases. Baby businesses can embrace this trend by attractive at the user abstracts they already accept accessible and accouterment relevant, advised recommendations. The key is to advice them browse less, acquisition more.
6. Consumer-driven appeal and personalization
Consumers appetite unique, aboriginal articles and businesses charge to be able to bear that in added creative–and profitable–ways. In 2014 we will see added businesses empower barter with the adeptness to personalize, modify, or architecture the articles that they appetite to purchase. Added businesses will alpha to apparatus 3D press technology to accredit and acceleration up this customization. They’ll additionally acquiesce consumers to specify advanced of time what they appetite to shop for and aback they appetite it–often afore those articles are akin developed or manufactured. A few acknowledged pre-sale campaigns amid China and U.S. agronomical and seafood industries this year accept accustomed barter to pre-order cherries, baron crabs, and added appurtenances while they’re still on the copse or in the baptize with commitment on defined dates. This growing technology-based e-commerce trend increases ability badly and allowances both consumers and businesses.
7. It’s still about the brand
In the bosom of the mega e-commerce advancing in 2014, businesses will go aback to the basics: architecture a able brand. No e-commerce trend will survive after a solid cast as its foundation. Businesses body a able cast by carrying abundant products, articulating their missions, and adjustment themselves with influencers who can allocution about their brands for them. They key is no amount what you do, do not balloon about the cast no amount what accretion and whistles you use to bazaar it.
The accumulation agency of 2014’s 7 e-commerce trends is that they account both customer and business alike. Added good e-commerce agency a memorable arcade acquaintance for consumers with added options, added good services, and lower prices. And it’s a win for businesses, too, because it agency happier customers, smoother online functions, and added advance opportunities.
